All about German fortifications 1933-1945

Save the bats, or the bunkers

The Oder-Warthe-Bogen linie in Poland. An historical monument but also an important environmental hideout. Thousands of bats survive in the endless underground tunnels.

The combination of the two could work but there are compromises to be made. The region’s big income are tourists who visit it partly because of the bunkers there are. For example, Panzerwerk 717 gets 40.000 visitors each year!

But bat protectors say the bat population has declined over the last two years and it’s better to close off the bunkers in winter, so that bats aren’t disturbed in their winter sleep.

Bats need the cold and humid air to survive, the underground tunnels of the defence line offer that. But for the bunkers on the other hand, the humid atmosphere is catastrophic for its preservation.

The bunker protecting organisations feel like nature is going before anything else and compromises aren’t possible with the bat protectors.